The present invention is related to a video conferencing system and method and, more particularly, to a teleconferencing system which is capable of producing a xe2x80x9cvideo mirrorxe2x80x9d at a station such that any participants at one or more remote stations may be imaged and displayed in the video mirror at the station so that they appear to be present or face-to-face with any participants at the station.
Visual telephone systems presently provide communication between at least two locations for allowing a video conference among participants situated at each station. An objective in some video conferencing arrangements is to provide a plurality of television cameras at one location. The outputs of those cameras are transmitted along with audio signals to a corresponding plurality of television monitors at a second location such that the participants at the first location are perceived to be present or face-to-face with participants at the second location. In achieving good face-to-face presence, the number of conferees included in the video picture from each camera is normally limited to a few people, typically one to four. There are usually a like number of monitors at the receiving station, each strategically focused, aligned and positioned so that their displays appear contiguous, seamless and properly aligned. The apparatuses and methods employed heretofore to achieve proper positioning, focus and alignment have been complex and costly.
Further, the images captured by the plurality of cameras must be arranged and displayed so that they generate a non-overlapping and/or contiguous field of view, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,314 which issued to Judd et al. on Dec. 26, 1989 and which is hereby incorporated by reference and made a part hereof.
The prior art systems have also been deficient because they have failed to provide means for generating an image, such as an image of a plurality of participants, at one station, differentiating the image to provide a differentiated image and subsequently compositing the differentiated image with a predetermined composite image to provide a composited image which complements or becomes visually complementary, contiguous or integrated with the remote station when the image is displayed at the remote station.
Another problem with prior art video conferencing systems is eye contact among participants at the stations. Typically, a camera is placed somewhere above the display monitor at which a participant is observing a display of the participant from the remote station. Consequently, the camera captures the participant at an angle above the participants viewing level or head. Thus, when an image of that participant is displayed at the remote station, it appears as if the participant is looking down (e.g., towards the ground). Previous solutions to this problem have required complex optical systems and methods using, for example, a plurality of lenses and mirrors. The solutions have usually been designed for use when the camera is capturing an image of a single participant, and they fall short when simultaneously capturing images of multiple participants.
The prior art stations themselves were not architecturally designed in a modular form so that they could be easily assembled, decorated and combined with a video image or sub-image from the remote station in a manner which would enhance the virtual presence environment.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a face-to-face teleconferencing system which enables a plurality of participants at a plurality of stations to teleconference such that the participants generally appear face-to-face with one or more participants at remote stations in the teleconferencing system.
Another object of this invention is to provide a differentiator or differentiating means which facilitates differentiating at least one image captured at a station into a differentiated image which will ultimately be transmitted to at least one remote station.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method and system for compositing an image or sub-image received from a remote station with a predetermined composite image to provide a composited image, at least a portion of which is displayed at the station.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a system or method which provides a display having wide aspect ratio while utilizing cameras which generate images having smaller aspect ratios.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method and system for defining a predetermined sensory setting at one or more stations in order to enhance the virtual presence environment at that station.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for imaging subjects at one station, processing such images, and displaying such images at a remote station such that such images complement and/or become visually integrated with the remote station.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus which is capable of generating a composite image having a plurality of different resolutions.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a xe2x80x9cvideo mirrorxe2x80x9d at a station.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an imaging system which provides a simplified means capturing substantially eye level images of participants at stations while also providing means for simultaneously displaying images at such stations.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a system and method for compositing a plurality of signals corresponding to a plurality of images from at least one station to provide a contiguous or seamless composite image.
Still another object is to provide a method and system for providing a plurality of teleconferencing stations that have complementary predetermined sensory settings which facilitate creating a face-to-face environment when images of such settings and participants are displayed at remote stations.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for generating a video mirror such that an image having a predetermined sensory setting of participants or subjects captured at one station may be displayed at a remote station having a different predetermined sensory setting, yet the remote participants will appear face-to-face in the same predetermined setting as the participants or subjects at the one station.
In one aspect, this invention comprises a teleconferencing method consisting of the steps of receiving image data at a teleconferencing station, the image data including data corresponding to at least one person and displaying an image corresponding to the image data at the teleconferencing station so that at least one participant at the teleconferencing station views said image of at least one person, thereby providing a face-to-face presence environment whereat the image of at least one person appears substantially life size.
In another aspect, this invention comprises a teleconferencing method consisting of the steps of generating image data corresponding to an image, transmitting at least a portion of the image data corresponding to at least a portion of the image to a teleconferencing station and displaying a portion of the image data at the teleconferencing station during a teleconference.
In yet another aspect, this invention comprises a conferencing system consisting of a conferencing station defining a predetermined motif, an image system for generating a substantially full scale image of a person at the conferencing station so that participants at the conferencing station feel that any images of persons displayed by the imager at the conferencing station are present and face-to-face.
In another aspect, this invention comprises a conferencing system comprising a first station comprising a first sensory area defining a first aura, a second station comprising a second sensory area defining a second aura, and an image system for generating a first station image of at least a portion of the first sensory area and also for displaying a composite image corresponding to the first station image at the second station such that the first and second auras become visually combined to provide an integrated face-to-face environment at the second station.
In another aspect, this invention comprises an image system for use in a conference environment comprising a station having a first conference area and a remote station having a remote video area, the image system comprising a compositor for compositing a first signal which generally corresponds to a video image of a portion of the first conference area with a composite reference signal to provide a composite image signal; and a display for displaying the composited image signal at the remote video area such that the first and second stations appear complementarily integrated.
In still another aspect, of the invention, this invention comprises a teleconferencing system comprising a sensory setting, a second station having a second predetermined sensory setting; and an imaging system for capturing an image at the first station and displaying at least a portion of the image at the second station such that it becomes generally visually integrated with the second predetermined sensory setting.
In another aspect of this invention, this invention comprises a station for use in a teleconferencing environment comprising a first station predetermined setting, first image sensing means associated with the first station predetermined setting for capturing images at the station for transmission to a remote station, audio means for transmitting and/or receiving audio signals from at least one remote station, and display means for displaying an image including at least one sub-image transmitted to the station from the remote station so that the image becomes integrated with the first station predetermined setting to facilitate providing a face-to-face presence teleconference.
In still another aspect of the invention, this invention comprises a method for providing a virtual presence conference in a teleconferencing system having a first station and a second station comprising the step of displaying an image formed from at least one sub-image from the first station at a predetermined location in the second station such that the image becomes visually integrated with the second station to define a single predetermined aura at the second station.
In yet another aspect of the invention, this invention comprises a method for teleconferencing comprising the steps of teleconnecting a first station having a first setting to a second station having a second setting; and displaying a composite image including an image of at least a portion of the first station at the second station such that when the composite image is displayed at the second station it cooperates with the second setting to facilitate providing a face-to-face environment at the second station.
In still another aspect, this invention comprises a method for teleconferencing comprising generating at least one first station signal generally corresponding to a first station image of the first station, comparing the at least one first station signal to a differential reference signal corresponding to a first reference image and generating at least one differential signal comprising a portion of the first station image in response thereto, compositing the at least one differential signal with a predetermined composite signal corresponding to a predetermined image to provide at least one composite image, and displaying the at least one composite image corresponding to the composite signal at a second station.
In yet another aspect, this invention comprises a method for generating a seamless image at a station from a plurality of sub-images at least one of which is received from a remote station comprising the steps of generating the plurality of sub-images, and combining the plurality of sub-images with a predetermined composite image to provide the seamless image.
These advantages and objects, and others, may be more readily understood in connection with the following specification, claims and drawings.